MentalPerformanceIndex.com for Football

Super Bowl I
Green Bay v. Kansas City
LA Coliseum
January 15, 1967

MPI Track Record MPI Summary
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The first Super Bowl ever played was not. The game was only named "Super Bowl I" retroactively when Joe Namath's amazing upset win for the Jets in 1969 earned the game respect. In 1967 this was just an amusing affair between the top team from the establishment National Football League and the best of the wacky and pass-happy American Football League. Teams from Missouri and Wisconsin met in the LA/Hollywood spotlight, but with ticket prices at an astounding $7.50 there were almost 40,000 empty seats. What a way to kick off Super Bowl history! Remember that with the MPI. While there are still many who still do not know the MPI, it makes too much sense to ignore!

The Packers had defeated the Cowboys in the NFL Championship 34-27, a game everyone considered that the real title game. The Chiefs blew by the Bills in the AFL Championship 31-7, but the press hounded legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi all week long to say that the Chiefs were inferior to many NFL teams. Both CBS and NBC covered the game, but the game was blacked out locally. Articles throughout the week leading up to kickoff instructed fans on how to steal the television signals from far away cities with rabbit ears.

The Total MPI differential (.548 to .464) shows that the Chiefs never really belonged on the same field as the Pack, but it must be remembered that by halftime Green Bay only led 14-10. Green Bay had been dominating teams throughout the 1960s, and Vince Lombardi was fast earning his reputation as best coach ever (until Don Shula arrived).

It was impressive that quarterback Len Dawson, receiver Otis Taylor, "the hammer" cornerback Fred Williamson and running back Mike Garrett kept the Chiefs in the game as long as they did. It would not be long, however, before MVP quarterback Bart Starr and his top receiver, Max McGee, would take over. Credit free safety Willie Wood for making perhaps the biggest play of the game in a crucial interception and 50 yard return when the game was still close.

Max McGee went out to indulge in some of the action on Sunset Strip the night before the game, quite contrary to Lombardi's team principles, but still managed to drag himself to the team breakfast. He almost earned MPV honors for his two touchdown catches. He had 7 catches for 138 yards including the first Super Bowl touchdown on a one-handed catch of a ball thrown way behind him.

The pressure on the Packers to not let the NFL down was counterbalanced by the confidence that they knew they could win this game. Kansas City had nothing to lose, but after the game many wondered whether this game should have even been played. The Super Bowl's future surely did not look strong. The AFL seemed like a comedy show or college team, and Lombardi commented that Dallas was a much better team than the Chiefs.

Reviewing the actual performance of the teams with the MPI, Green Bay performed much better overall. Green Bay's offense decimated Kansas City's defense and this was especially true in pressure situations (.775 to .295). In other words, the Packers almost reached 80% of perfection in offensive pressure situations. Green Bay's defense only edged the Kansas City offense (.509 to .496), so the Chiefs should have been proud on offense, and Len Dawson passed for a relatively impressive 167 yards. The Chiefs outperformed the Packer's special teams unit (.513 to .500), but the overall pressure play superiority of Green Bay was impressive (.716 to .348).

Taken together, the Green Bay Packers of the old guard whipped the Kansas City Chiefs in 6 out of 7 MPI categories. This means that aside from only slightly inferior special teams play, the much better performing team overall dominated this game, and they won easily as expected on the final scoreboard.

CONGRATS GREEN BAY: CLICK TO WATCH PACKERS VIDEO

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The MPI or Mental Performance Index is the first system of scoring developed in sports which includes in the scoring key mental factors such as pressure management, reduction of mental errors and focused execution. It was developed by licensed clinical and sport performance psychologist Dr. John F. Murray in 2002 to show the extreme importance of mental factors in sports. It is much more accurate than the final score and other statistics in showing how one team performed relative to another team. It has almost perfectly estimated the relative performance of the teams before each of the past 5 Super Bowls. Dr. Murray's MPI forecast has also beaten the official Super Bowl spread 4 out of 5 times now. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television shows, and the forecast has also appeared in hundreds of articles. Why all the focus, energy and interest in this topic? Because it so clearly demonstrates the importance of mental factors in sports. For more information about the MPI or Dr. Murray's services, please call 561-596-9898 or send an email to: johnfmurray@mindspring.com